POUGHKEEPSIE >> A Dutchess County grand jury report suggests a pattern of disregard for state law and self-serving behavior by the county’s Democratic elections commissioner, Fran Knapp.

The usually sealed report was made public Friday as part of a deal in which Knapp pleaded guilty in Dutchess County Court to making a false written statement and official misconduct, both misdemeanors.

Under the deal, Knapp will pay a $175 fine and resign from her position as elections commissioner on Dec. 31.

Among the findings outlined in the 19-page report is that Knapp attempted to rig her own 2010 re-election bid for elections commissioner by collecting “undated” proxies, which would have allowed Knapp to date them at the time of the vote, ensuring that they appeared to be the most recent proxy votes cast, and therefore would be the ones counted.

The grand jury also stated in its report that in 2011, Knapp attempted to sabotage candidacy a potential candidate looking to primary the Democratic candidate for Poughkeepsie mayor.

According to the report, Knapp “deliberately misled” the potential candidate by providing incorrect filing dates, that, had the person adhered to, would have resulted in the late filing of petitions. The report also stated that Knapp rejected some of the signatures gathered by that candidate on the petition.

“Had not the Republican commissioner found nothing wrong with the candidate’s petition signatures, the candidate would not have been able to run,” the report states.

Under New York state election law, elections commissioners are charged, among other duties, with determining the validity of signatures on designating petitions. For a signature to be deemed invalid by the Board of Elections, both elections commissioners must rule it to be faulty in some way or the signature is allowed to stand.

Grand jurors in their report also stated that Knapp violated the county’s nepotism rules by employing her sister, at the Board of Elections.

According to the report, although Knapp’s sister would have been “grandfathered” under the county’s nepotism rules, Knapp had indicated that she would adhere to the rules and see that her sister was no longer an employee of the board, then failed to do so.

The grand jury looked into practices and procedures of the County Board of Election between July 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2012, “with particular attention to the actions of Frances Knapp.”

Their investigation was launched after Republican Commissioner Erik Haight filed a complaint withe Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office claiming that during the 2011 election, someone on Knapp’s staff altered the designations of absentee ballots sent to voters.

According to the report, the grand jury heard from 32 witnesses, including Democratic Party Chairwoman Elisa Sumner and members of Knapp’s staff, and reviewed some 70 documents.

Based on its investigation, the grand jury indicted Knapp on 46 felonies and 48 misdemeanors, including 42 counts of misconduct by an elections officer.

Among the charges were that Knapp changed the designating agents of some 41 voters, including residents of the Mapewood residence where Knapp is employed, on the Board of Elections computer using a user name and password that wasn’t hers; fraudulently signed poll watcher certificates on behalf of Republican primary candidate Neil DiCarlo; altered designating petitions; fraudulently signed and filed a certificate related to the closing of the campaign committee of her husband, Fred Knapp; backdated notarized signatures; and altered the election results in an election district in Pine Plains.

The alteration, authorities said, did not change the outcome of the general election.

Former Republican Elections Commissioner David Gamache with felony misconduct of an election officer, and two counts of official misconduct and offering a false instrument for filing, all misdemeanors, in connection with the Pine Plains election.

Gamache pleaded guilty on Nov. 1 to unlawful prevention of public access to records, a violation, and was ordered to pay a $250 fine.

In statements issued following Knapp’s guilty plea, both her attorney Seth Rosenberg of New York City, and her husband Fred, decried Knapp’s prosecution as a political witch hunt.

Rosenberg described Knapp as a “casualty of… partisan political warfare” at the Board of Elections, who, he said, “accepted the responsibility for conduct so petty it would not likely have been pursued outside the political arena.”

Fred Knapp said that it has been clear from the outset that the case against Knapp was politically motivated.

“The more effective Fran became as Elections Commissioner, the more important it became for her opponents to get rid of her,” he said in statement.

About the Author

Since 1990, Patricia R. Doxsey has been a reporter for the Freeman, covering politics, crime, and government affairs. Reach the author at pdoxsey@freemanonline.com
or follow Patricia R. on Twitter: @pattiatfreeman.